9.9.12

JCI Iligan: Brotherhood of Ideals and Passion for Service

To be a part of this brotherhood
is really a big thing to me. It feels great knowing that you are with people
who believe in what you do and what you can do more. I don’t think it’s all
about settling in your comfort zones ‘cause I’ve been in a lot of organizations
and each of them has a unique atmosphere. JCI is unique in a way because it’s
an all-male organization that works for the community. There’s a common vision
that is being forwarded and that is empowerment of the community people
themselves, and at the same time, shaping the brotherhood in us.

I think that one of the greatest
achievements so far is working with community and seeing that you’ve moved them
in a way. In one of the outreach programs that we had, there was a young boy
who approached me after the program. And he told me “Salamat kuya ha!” And I
was in complete awe, thinking that what we only did was play games with them
and gave them snacks for that day.

To be a volunteer needs a lot of
passion and dedication. And sometimes, a lot of people are just going to cross
along your way and make you feel that the advocacy is very unpopular and the
path is very dim. Some people even ask you of your interest why you do these
things. And that perfectly shows how greed and apathy becomes the bottom line
of all these problems that we have, because some people just think that
advocacies and their promotions are always self-interested. I’m not sure
exactly why because we’re not being paid for this, but I feel some warm feeling
of happiness every time I feel like I was able to help these people in the
community in the little ways that I can.

You know, I’m just one simple
individual with the simple dream of being an inspiration to someone. But if all
of us would think the same, then I think we can make this world a lot of a
better place. And this really sounds cheesy, but this is really true. And I
wouldn’t mind staying another year here in Iligan if what it takes is to serve
this community over and over again. And what other people say, it doesn’t
matter. As long as you know that what you’re doing is right, then you should
never stop.